Shadow the Hedgehog: Dead Hope Future
by FtH
Summary: Welcome to the future. Sonic is dead, Metal Sonic is the supreme overlord of the world, and Shadow is our last hope of ever seeing a free world again... assuming he himself has enough hope to keep fighting until the end. Keep pushing forward, Shadow. You and your small band of freedom fighters are our last beacon of hope in this black world, for all else... is dead.
1. 0) Prologue

0 - Prologue

Death. Grief. Rebellion. Defeat. Blood. Conquest. Fear.

This is how it all began…

[Solar Sailer (Basic Slack Remix) – Daft Punk/BasicSlack – Tron Legacy soundtrack  
/watch/?v=VwQytlZjhSI&feature=related ]

As long as history itself could recall, man and mobian had coexisted in peace. But one day, one mobian's very existence would create such a great ripple in history, forming events of grand proportion permanently burned into the minds of all. One mobian. A mere hedgehog. A mere hedgehog would be the unwilling cause of one of the Earth's most catastrophic eras. That very same hedgehog will be the inspiration, the hope, _the spirit_that flows through those chosen by Fate, those who will undo this period of time that all desire to wipe from their memory.

Sonic the Hedgehog. His existence brought about the mechanical conqueror of this era and the ultimate life form who would oppose him. In his time, Sonic had stopped malicious forces constantly. He never did it for fame, fortune, recognition, or the like. He did it because that's who he was. He never wanted or cared for anyone's thanks. When his time had met its end, the time of Metal Sonic had commenced. Metal Sonic, the twisted mirror image of its "brother", was formed out of hate. Designed to be superior to its namesake, yet failed in its objective, the machine had shared in the hate of its creator, the hate of a blue mobian. As such, following Sonic's leave of this world, Metal Sonic proceeded to destroy any ties to the hedgehog. It first ended the life of its very creator and master, as to ensure that none would command it any longer. It then went on to hunt down Sonic's loved ones as if they were little more than flee-ridden, filthy stray dogs. The rage of this machine lead to innocent bloodshed. Then Sonic's other equal stood to oppose.

Shadow the Hedgehog. A creation of both hate and hope. Designed to act as both a weapon and a cure. The ultimate life form. Despite preceding Sonic, his design was based on mobian-echidna prophecies of Sonic, and thus Sonic played an unwitting role in the creation of Shadow as well as Metal Sonic. Shadow's early life would force him into events that would eventually set in stone his position as a Protector of Earth, a Guardian of Gaia. Keeping true to this title, Shadow gave chase to Metal Sonic and attempted to stop the machine. Unfortunately, he was always just moments too late, always arriving at appalling and horrid scenes of blood everywhere. Everywhere he went, Metal Sonic was always one step ahead, leaving behind it a trail of havoc. One could only ponder on the sheer terror that filled the eyes of the victims of this mechanical monstrosity. The race ended at the house of Sonic's best friend. Shadow arrived to a place worn and ravaged by struggle. As with the others, this place was covered in blood, but he had yet to find a body. Then he heard the churning of machinery and turned to face it. Those piercing black and red eyes. He could only assume the worse of this victim as the machine voiced his thoughts.

"You are too late."

The voice was the sound of metal scraping metal. It vibrated and echoed, both in sound and mind. Its words held true. It was all too true. This machine was nightmare incarnate. And its next target stood before it. But the Shadow of Justice would not allow for this. He would stand. And he would fight.

Arriving seconds before downfall, a red hedgehog came to Shadow's assistance. The two opposed the machine. And they fought with every reserve of strength. Yet, despite their valiant efforts, they were forced to make retreat. They left with their lives barely intact. And they could not understand. How? How could this… _thing_… – this man-made abomination – overcome them? It was little more than a machine. How could this thing beat them within an inch of their lives? Force them to run, to see another day when they will reattempt to destroy this thing. This _monster_.

They made their leave, and within the following days, they trained themselves, pushed their limits, whatever it took to prepare for the next battle. When they returned, Shadow had found that history had already begun to repeat. He found himself once again giving chase, trying to reach and preserve innocents before Metal Sonic could reach them. Only this time, the race was on a much broader scale. Now, Metal Sonic had with it an _entire army_. Thousands upon thousands of copies created in the likeness of Mecha Sonic, one of Metal Sonic's former successors and current predecessor. Metal Sonic and its legions went forth, conquering the entire world, city by city. It was a war that could not be won. Even when the two hedgehogs had beaten the machines to a city, it was a matter of minutes before they would arrive. There were too many. It made no difference how strong the two were, they were just far too outnumbered for it to even matter. Even the Chaos Emeralds, a set of mystic gems capable of granting one vast amounts of power, were of no use. When hunting for the Emeralds, they found that Metal Sonic was too fast, always holding that which they sought moments before they could obtain it. With its own personal army and all the Chaos Emeralds in hand, it was months before the world became Metal Sonic's plaything.

The two hedgehogs retreated to the Space Colony Ark, an enormous satellite and Shadow's birthplace. The Ark bore a massive, planet-shattering weapon known as the Eclipse Cannon. Shadow figured that maybe, just maybe, he could configure it to wipe out all technology on Earth. It was a risky move that could set humanity back, but it was better than allowing Metal Sonic to rule humanity. But of course, Metal Sonic was always one step ahead. When they arrived, they had found that the Eclipse Cannon had been sabotaged, damaged beyond any kind of repair. They found Metal Sonic standing there before them. Laughing. A machine had laughed at them. This simple machine had looked down on the two, one of whom was the ultimate life form.

"You two aren't even worth killing. I will leave you be… for now."

That chilling noise. The machine took its leave, its last words being a challenge to see if they could put an end to its reign after being spared. In a fit of rage, Shadow attempted to attack. It was too late. The metal animal was gone.

The two had lost track of time as they prepared to face Metal Sonic again. They had been on the Ark for so long. Every day, Shadow would look down at the Earth. His vision would begin to blur as more and more thoughts flooded into his head. More and more memories, old and new alike. Memories of all his failures, of all the blood he had witnessed. And Metal Sonic's scrapping echo, "You are too late… You are too late… You are…"

* * *

"You there? Come in!"

[Extras Menu – Sonic Mega Collection soundtrack  
/watch/?v=iN8urBC4LxI&feature=related ]

Shadow's vision snapped back and became clear and sharp again. He found himself on a damaged highway deep in a crumbling city under a smoggy red and black sky. He had been staring towards the sun, the colors of the sky around it meshing into orange. His memory returned. He had been day-dreaming, reminiscing of a better time, or at least, a time better than now.

"… Yea, I'm in the city." He spoke into his wrist.  
"Where?"  
"Freeway."  
"Out in the open?"  
"Yea."  
"You nuts? Do you _want_ to blow our cover?"  
"No, it's just… Nevermind. Get me an evac. Rendezvous with me at this point. I'm sending you the coordinates now."  
"Why you out there anyways?"  
"No reason."  
"You're putting us at risk… for _'no reason'_?"  
"Just get over here."  
"A'right. Ya know, come'a thinkovit, it ain't often that I get to save _your_ hide."  
"Because you _can't_."  
"Exactly! So if you're in trouble-"  
"Don't worry about it, just get over here."  
"On my way."

Shadow clicked something on the ring on his wrist. He then let his arms drop, looked deep into the sun, and let out a heavy sigh.

* * *

= Notes =

-Please leave some feedback. It will determine if this story will be continued or not.

-This fan fic WILL feature OCs… or NSOCs (not-so-original-characters) if you will. Some will be pretty ridiculous (i.e. recolors and clones). If this is a turn off to you, you've been warned.

-Music will be used and linked to throughout the story. If not available on Youtube, the music will simply be referenced for you (the reader) to look up. I apologize if the songs aren't available or are removed. I recommend "YoutubeRepeat". Any music used throughout this work is not mine and belongs to its respectful owners.

-Feel free to ask questions. I'll answer them when I can. Replies will be posted in the Reviews section.


	2. 1) A Broken Future

1 – A Broken Future

[Lightning Storm – Tekken 6 soundtrack  
/watch?v=FYIoO6m_hHE ]

"It's over, Metallix…"

The two faced each other on top of the largest tower in the city. The sky was filled with warm colors as the day dawned. A jet black and crimson red hedgehog faced his metal, cobalt adversary. "No…" the damaged machine stirred. In its condition, it was hardly little more than scrap. "You've finally lost." the hedgehog scowled as seven colorful gems flew from behind him and formed a ring around him. The jewels spun round him slowly, gradually pulsing with a brighter glow more and more. "I toOk this wuurrl-d… by the FO-rce… o-of… my o-o-own… hANd…" The machine's voice was jagged as it stumbled, jerking and sparking electricity every other moment. Its eyes, however, glowed brighter than the hedgehog could ever recall. "I… w-ill NOT… give e-e-it up… sO… E-za-… ly-ly-ly…" It limped its way towards the hedgehog. "Just give up. You're wasting your energy." The hedgehog squinted at the machine. As it got to the center of the field, it began to collapse. The hedgehog smirked, but his smile began to fade as the floor under the machine opened up and it started to fall inside. "You're not getting off that easily…" Before he could even pick up decent speed, a green gem not unlike the hedgehog's had burst from the opening. This one, however, towered over the hedgehog. The machine stood atop the gem, erect and surging with electricity, looking down at its prey. "Not so long as I… FUNCTION!" It thrusted an open hand forward, blasting out an unseen wave that launched the hedgehog. Rather than follow him, the gems that had been around him simply dropped. Green streams of electricity whipped out of the large gem and snagged the smaller ones, lifting them around it. "None may defy me and live!" the machine roared as it lifted its hand. As it did so, its hand began to glow a bright gold. The hedgehog also began to glow the same as his body was lifted into the air. The machine brought its hand inwards, the hedgehog being jolted across the air and towards it as it did so. The two stared into each other's eyes sternly.

"You have been a nuisance to me and my kingdom long enough, hedgehog."  
The hedgehog smirked again.  
"Do your worst."  
"You think I will kill you? No. I want you to live. I want you to suffer. I will enjoy experimenting on you. And I will ensure that it will be most excruciating… Target Shadow the Hedgehog… neutralized."  
The machine began to clutch its hand. The hedgehog's bones could be heard being crushed in response. He let out a scream that escalated with time.  
"… No… not… _yet_…"  
He barely managed to slip off the rings on his wrist.  
"… Cha… os…"  
He kept gasping for air. He could feel his body falling apart and giving in.  
"Go ahead. Just _try_ to stop me. I have in my possession the seven Chaos Emeralds _and_ the Master Emerald."  
The machine tightened its grip, increasing the hedgehog's agony and making him cough out blood.  
"Me… tal… LIX!" he roared as he starting gathering energy.  
"… Cha… os… _Con… trol!_"  
Shadow could feel time slowing down around him, but before it could stop completely, it began to speed up again.  
"Fool. With all of the Emeralds, your petty Chaos-manipulation is nothing to me."  
_How…? He doesn't have a soul. How could he possibly…?  
_"Your energy may have no limit, but your power and stamina do. 'Ultimate life form'. There is no such thing. The only perfection in this world is the machine."  
Shadow continued to struggle, his pain escalating.  
"… Your energy is rising and you are unable to release it. With nowhere to go, it will continue to build until your body can no longer withhold it and you die. Removing your inhibiter rings: fatal error-"  
"_Enough!"  
_Shadow released a burst of energy and broke free. When the smoke cleared, he floated in the air, his fur turned gold and his aura made prominent.  
"… Interesting. You're still able to access your super form, despite the number of years you haven't activated it. And you managed to utilize the positive energy of the Emeralds from a distance. This requires further analysis... A futile effort, regardless. By now, you are most certainly highly inexperienced with it-"  
"_Shut up!"  
_Shadow rained a barrage of energy blast upon Metallix, but to no effect.  
"… Emotion. Perhaps the greatest flaw of the organics."  
Metallix shot its hand forward and a surge of gold energy came out and latched onto Shadow. Metallix then swung his hand down and slammed Shadow into the floor. As Shadow started to struggle back to his feet, his fur and aura began to fade back to their original state.  
"In addition to your lack of experience, I am the one in control of the Emeralds, and as such I may restrain your usage of them."  
Shadow's rage was made very clear by his expression.  
"If you are to increase your probability of victory, you'd best suppress your emotion."  
Shadow lowered his head and began to chuckle quietly. Metallix tilted its head.  
"… Do I amuse you?"  
"… Emotion… You're one to talk…"  
"Elaborate."  
"I just find it funny. 'Greatest flaw of the organics'… if that's the case… then you're becoming the very thing you look down upon."  
"… Does not compute. Explain yourself."  
"Don't you get it? Ever since your first failure, you've been harnessing hatred."  
"Is that so?"  
"You tell me. After all, what other reason would you have for killing Sonic's friends?"  
"If I were to ever-"  
"Of all people, they were the first ones you targeted. And why?"  
There was no response.  
"You hated Sonic, and could never beat him. So when nature beat you to his death, you were beyond angry. If you couldn't kill him, then who? Who best to take that anger out on?"  
"Enough of your incessant-"  
"It's ironic. You treat 'organics' like dirt, always declaring the 'perfection of the machine', yet you're no better than-"  
"SILENCE!"  
Another surge of energy, this one chucking Shadow up into the air. As he began to fall back down, Metallix charged an orb of energy in the engine in its chest. Just as Shadow fell in front of Metallix, time seemed to slow down. As it did, the two's eyes lock onto each other's. Shadow smirked at his adversary. He knew he had irritated the tyrant. He could hear its slow voice echoing "Zero Cannon!" Then Metallix fired the large beam it had been charging. Everything went bright.

* * *

[Extras Menu – Sonic Mega Collection soundtrack  
/watch?v=iN8urBC4LxI&feature=related ]

Gulps of water and the taste of iron and bitter salt filled Shadow's mouth as he drifted in the sea. He could feel his body moving back and forth, back and forth, moving in sync with the waves. As he faded back to life, he could feel himself be victim to the undertow. He felt weak, broken. After what felt like hours of helplessness, the merciless waters finally tossed him onto a shore. Sand peppered his face and filled his mouth as he crashed. He laid there for some time, spitting out everything he inhaled and some blood. Eventually, he mustered what little strength he had left as his shaking arms and stumbling legs aided him back to his feet. He let his head hang back and took in a deep breath, gazing at the ruined city before him and the grand tower in its center. He looked to the top of the tower. The sky hadn't changed. Metallix was probably still there, looking back towards him, he figured. Looking out to the city limits. Waiting for his return. Shadow stared until everything began to spin and grow dark. Until everything faded out again.

* * *

Black became dark red and silence became low murmuring. Shadow blinked, being greeted by white light and an echoing voice that became clear with time. "You there? Shadow! Common man, last thing I need is you dying on me." His vision cleared up. He was in some strange, advanced, technological room. He was bound to some sort of large panel tilted almost completely upright. He looked around, his eyes passing over a red hedgehog a few times before he focused on him. As he did, his blurred vision slowly became clear again. "You ok, man?" Shadow ignored him looking around and below him. He saw his bound wrists. He found that he was wearing his inhibitor rings again. Shadow grunted something inaudible. "Huh? … Oh. Forgot. Sorry." The red one turned to a pulpit next to him with a holographic keyboard on it and pressed a button. The bindings on Shadow clicked open. Shadow checked his wrists, clamping them and rotating his hands. After a long, awkward silence, the red hedgehog spoke up.

"… Sooo… how'd it go?"  
Shadow looked at him sternly. The two looked nearly identical, the main difference being their colors. The red one seemed to lack pupils and a mouth. His fur was mostly bright red, but there were yellow tuffs of fur on his chest. In place of stripes, his lower arms and legs were orange. Where the orange stopped and the red started, there were lines that resembled small fires. He had black fingerless gloves on his furless hands and wore rings and air shoes like Shadow's, but the white potion of the shoes were yellow and formed a jagged line with the black portion instead of a smooth one. His skin, where visible, was dark like Shadow's, too. Shadow looked him directly in the eyes, which were yellow like the fur on his chest.  
"… I nearly died… How do you think?"  
"Dude, I was just kiddi-"  
"Now's not the time to joke."  
"Calm dow-"  
"We came so close… and failed… Now he has all the Emeral-"  
"What? Ah, ya gotta be kidding me!" The red hedgehog threw his arms into the air and starting walking around. While they looked similar, their voices were far from alike. The red one had a much younger and more frivolous tone.

The red hedgehog rested one hand on his hip and stroked the other though the fur on his head.  
"How'd it happen?"  
"Metallix. I don't know how, but somehow he can now control Chaos energy."  
"… Saywunao?"  
"He used the Master Emerald to take the Chaos Emeralds from me. And he overrided my Chaos Control. And he knocked me out of my Super state."  
"Unreal…"  
The red one looked at Shadow wide-eyed.  
"Wait, did you say Master Emerald?"  
"Yea. Surprised me too."  
"But he destroyed that thing! We saw it! It was completely desin- dasye- demin- duh, de-"  
"Disintegrated?"  
"Yea, that."  
"I know… I always thought something was off about that. I had my suspicions, but only now can I confirm that the 'Master Emerald' he destroyed was a fake. A decoy. And like fools, we bought it..."  
"That makes no sense. Angel Island started going all wonky as soon as the Emerald was wrecked. It had to be real!"  
"My guess is that he kept the original nearby when we found the fake and had it warped off the island as soon as the fake was destroyed."  
"Warped off the island? Who could- … Sorrow?"  
Shadow nodded silently  
"Sorrow."  
"That stupid jerk. But how could he have done it?"  
"He could've used the Emerald's own energy to do it."  
"Ok, the guy's good with Chaos energy, but he can't be that good… can he?"  
"Perhaps… He might have also had some help from Metallix."  
"What, you mean like some kind of Chaos energy booster?"  
"A Chaos Amplifier, yes. Sorrow's not one to usually really on help, but I doubt he'd refuse it if he really needed it."  
"Darn…"  
"I might have eventually sensed the original Master Emerald, had there not been such an energy flux from the destruction of the fake. A very believable fake, at that. I can only wonder where he got it. Or how he created it, if that's the case… We worked so hard to get the Chaos Emeralds back from him, and now he has them again…"

Shadow chuckled abit before letting out a deep breath.  
"… What are we going to do, Flame?"  
"… I don't know… You'd best go see Miley to see if you're ok. I mean, looking at these readings, I can only guess that you're ok, but only she can… really… read… this… stuff…"  
Flame looked at several holographic screens above the keyboard, tilting his head and staring with a raised brow while rubbing his chin.  
"… Yea. Science ain't for me. Totally her forte. Let's hope you're still in 'working condition'. You're the chief, after all. You go down, we all do. Well, at least you're still alive. Good thing we got to you in time. You didn't have you're rings on you. You wouldda been good as dead, had we beena second late. On that topic, try not to lose your rings. We only got so many spares left."  
"Yea…"  
Shadow hopped off the panel and starting walking out of the room. He pressed something on a small panel next to the exit door and it beeped as the door slid open. Just before leaving, Flame spoke up.  
"… Hey, Shadow."  
The black hedgehog stopped.  
"… Yea?"  
"I know we all thought today would be the day when we'd finally 'save the world' and all, and how that didn't… turn out so well…"  
"… What are you getting at?"  
"It's just… ugh. Just- … promise me something."  
Shadow turned his head and looked back at Flame from the corner of his eye.  
"What?"  
"… Promise me… you'll never lose hope…"  
"… Heh… That's a laugh…"  
Shadow turned his head back forward.  
"You say don't lose hope, but there is none."  
"Shado-"  
"The planet is dominated by machines, a bunch of _scrap metal _that I failed to stop, and you want me to cling to a hope that isn't there? Hope… _Pfft…_"  
He shook his head.  
"Hope is dead."  
Before Shadow could take a step, Flame cut him off.  
"… There's always hope, Shadow…"  
He paused for a moment. Then left, the door slamming shut behind him. Flame stood there for some time, looking at the door.

* * *

Shadow sat on top of a roof, one foot dangling off the edge, the other on the edge, pushing his knee up for him to rest the same-sided arm on. The building he sat atop of was positioned in the middle of the sea. Out in the distance, the city could be seen, and in its center – the tower and the warm sky that surrounded it. He thought of all the people under that tyrant's rule, of Flame's words. He wanted to give up. What was the point? What was the point of fighting a war that was lost? Leading a resistance that was practically non-existent? He looked at the now open palm of the hand that hung off his knee. Memories resurfaced.  
… _I'm sorry… I failed you… I broke my promise…  
_A deep sigh.  
"… I can only wonder what you'd say right now…"  
Shadow looked to the sun which sat on the horizon.  
"… Is there really still hope? …"


	3. 2) The Twin Dragons & the Six Demons

2 – The Twin Dragons and the Six Guardians

[Mephiles' Whisper (Extended) – Sonic 2006 soundtrack  
/watch?v=WicJrGIPQpc ]

It was a dark, cold, and damp place. In the cell at the end of the room, a man sat curled up, his back up against a corner. He shook and swayed, quietly whimpering. He knew it was coming. Next to his cell were many others forming a corridor. They were all awaiting the same fate. What laid in store for them, they all knew too well. Without warning, that _thing_would come. It would drag one of them away. The victim would scream and claw the floor, but the creature would ignore it, continuing its slow path, a path that would end in blood. The prisoners could only wait and pray, pray to live another day, even if it meant living in fear. Anything was better than that beast.

The beast was coming. The man could feel it. And soon, he could hear it. The sound started low and so slowly did it become louder and clearer. Slowly, like the monster's movement. Every step so slow, so far in between, with the occasional sound of puddles being stepped in. Soon, he could see it too. What looked like two purple flames and a pair of blood red eyes in the distance. The figure became larger with time. Soon, its eyes would tower over the squirming shell of a man lying on the floor. Its shape soon became clear as well. The silhouette of a demonic mobian hedgehog. Its ears were pointed like horns. Its spines stood up, floating almost. It had claws for hands and knives for fingers. It had hellfire for feet and it appeared to be composed of constantly moving shadows and black smoke. That was the best that it could be described as. A moving shadow. A _living_shadow. The Shadow of Death. The Angel of Death. Hell incarnate.

It waltzed its way to its pray, sliding one of its claws across the bars of the other cells at its side. The bars clanked as sparks flew, the sparks scaring the other prisoners into scurrying to the backs of their cells. That scraping… It continued to come, taking its time. Oh, how it took its time. It said nothing, yet everything. What felt like hours had passed and it was still coming towards the poor soul. It was taunting him. He knew it. Perhaps it was planning. Yes, that had to be it. It was planning, imagining, thinking of every possible way to deliver death. One would think that there are only so many ways to kill a man, but this man and all his fellow captives knew better. Time only seemed to slow more as it drew closer. Until finally, it stood at the cell door. Until finally, it was time…

It spoke. Its voice was the cross of a gentleman's and a monster's. A calm and sophisticated tone paired with raspy words carrying a low growling underneath. It sounded so composed. But perhaps that was because it was pleased. It was known for taking joy in its profession.

"It's time…"  
"Please, just one more day! Just one more _hour_! _Anything_! Just a little more time to prepare!"  
"… Well… since I'm in such a good mood… You have a few more minutes."  
"_Thank you! Tha-_"  
"A minute while I get in there, a few more while I drag you out, and then some more while I prepare you."  
"No! Please!"

It tore through the cell bars like paper. The man could not press up against the wall any further. The monster stood before him. The man wanted desperately to look away, but he could not remove his eyes from his judge's. Those deep pools of blood. He could see it all. All the blood ever shed by this savage. He could hear the blood. He could hear it _crying_. The cries of all those victims… The creature breathed out a low chuckle. It grabbed his leg and began to drag him as he panicked and cried. He desperately tried to cling to the floor, his arms in a flurry. It dragged him out of the prison.

Time seemed to stop. All was silent. Everyone simply stared. Stared at the doorway where the animal made its leave though, carrying off its pray. Silence. Enough silence to hear distant water dripping. Enough silence to hear quiet hearts beating and slow, deep breathing.

Then the screaming came. Screams that could drive one to madness with their volume alone. But that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was the pain. Through the screams, the victim's soul was heard. Through the screams, the people could _feel_his pain.

Once, the bell rang.  
Mothers grabbed their children and covered their ears.

Twice, the bell rang.  
Lovers held each other tightly.

Thrice, the bell rang.  
Fathers froze in thought.

Then it stopped. The screams stopped, coming to an abrupt halt as they were overshadowed by the rising sound of tearing, cracking, and gushing. And the bell rang again. It filled the place with its ringing. And time froze once again.

After an eternity, the Living Shadow returned. Laughing. It stared low and became louder and louder until it knew the sound left a permanent mark. "… What… _is_that thing?" one young man asked. The poor fool must have been new there. It slowly turned its head to face the captive. Had it bones, its neck would have snapped. Had it a mouth, it surely would have smiled from ear to ear.

"For those of you who have yet to meet me, you may know me by reputation. You may not. Either way, you will all get to know me very well, _very_ soon… I am the inescapable, _undeniable_ plague that lurks in the back of _every_ mind. I am the ever-present dark. I am the cause of so many a deaths. I am the aftermath of chaos. I am the end. I…"  
It walked up to the terrified youth.  
"… _am Sorrow_."  
It walked away, still looking back for some time, chuckling.

Just before taking its leave, it stopped before the exit.  
"… Richard."  
It was quiet for a moment before a voice from one of the cells spoke up.  
"… Are you finally going to do it?"  
Another chuckle.  
"… Soon, Richard. Soon. Fortune has favored you for quite some time now… But it cannot harbor you forever… No, Death still awaits you. And he is becoming _very_ impatient."  
"If you're trying to scare me, you're failing."  
"Scare?" It held back its laughter.  
"No, not scare. Warn. I'm coming for you soon. And this time, I can _assure_ you that your fate _will not_ be delayed again."  
"We'll see about that."  
Its eyes squinted.  
"… You'd best watch that arrogance. Let not Fortune's favor kindle your pride, least you believe yourself to be untouchable. If you are blinded by your pride…"  
It walked out of the room, its voice still echoing back.  
"… then how do you expect to see what pain is coming?"

Silence.

* * *

[Chaos Angel: Map (Remastered 2011) – Sonic Advanced 3 soundtrack  
/watch/?v=M0ENxeGkLzc ]

Metallix's eyes activated. It made a low growling-sort of noise. It sat on its throne as it stared at the glass wall before it, as it stared at the falling sun and the yellow skies. Perhaps it was dreaming. But could a machine dream?

"… You beckoned?"  
Without moving its gaze, it spoke to the creature that hid in the shadows.  
"… Yes… Sorrow, my executioner…"  
"Need I remind you that I do _not_ work under you? I am your ally, not your slave."  
"Need _I_ remind you that if you irritate me enough, I can easily have you removed and replaced and see to it that you never again see another drop of blood?"  
Sorrow growled quietly, muttering under his breath.  
"Very well then… your… _majesty_…"  
Sorrow held back his anger.  
"And why, exactly, have you summoned me?"  
"… The Emeralds…"  
"What of them?"  
"They are being relocated. I cannot allow them to fall into the wrong hands yet again."  
"So where are you planning to hide them?"  
"Each one will be placed under the protection of a 'Guardian.'"  
"… You're not going to keep them all in one place?"  
"No. That was an error on my part."  
"But how will you power the empire without them? You're trading your prime power source for security."  
"The Master Emerald. It alone will power the empire. It should be capable enough to manage. Now that the Resistance knows of its existence, there's no use hiding its energies. We'd best put it to use."  
"And who will guard the Master Emerald?"  
"I will."  
"One last question, then… What role do I play in all this?"  
"Why, isn't it obvious?"  
Metallix held out a purple Chaos Emerald. Sorrow looked at it, then at Metallix, chuckling.

* * *

[Chun-Nan: Map (Night ver.) – Sonic Unleashed soundtrack  
/watch/?v=e_e1b17TzRw ]

"There you go, friend."  
"Heh ha! Yes! Thanks, man."  
"But of course…"  
Flame's friend handed him several holographic, glass-sheets. He was a large, beetle-type mobian, covered in wraps and bandages like a mummy and wearing a large, brown trench coat.  
"… Ahem…"  
Flame was busy staring at the holograms.  
"… _Ahem_…"  
"Huh?"  
The beetle stuck out his hand.  
"… Doh, whoops."  
Flame put the holograms into his black sling pack, pulled out some small rings, counted them, and handed them over.  
"Thank you, friend."  
"Nah, thank _you_. Seriously, what would we do without you, Cognito?"  
The two exchanged small laughs and goodbyes. The beetle passed Flame to take a seat, asking the bartender for the special of the day while Flame stopped before the exit door and starting pressing things on and talking into the ring on his left wrist.

"Yo, bro."  
Shadow's voice responded.  
"What's the intel?"  
"Eh… you're not gonna like it…"  
"I won't know until you tell me."  
"… Metal's put the Emeralds in the hands of abuncha different 'Guardians.' Getting 'em all won't be as easy as last time."  
"It _wasn't_ easy."  
"Yea, well, we won't be putting up with abuncha bots this time around."  
"I take it these 'Guardians' are experiments of Metallix?"  
Flame pulled the holograms out and skimmed through them.  
"… Looks like some are… Here's something else you won't like."  
"Shoot."  
"Dark's one of the Guardians."  
"Damn. Of course Metallix would put an Emerald in Sorrow's hands."  
"Well, at least we know one of the Guardians. With the others, we have no idea who we're dealing with."  
"The devil you know it not always the better. And Sorrow is almost literally a hell-spawn. And with that Chaos Emerald…"  
"The guy's gonna breeze through Death row like crazy."  
Flame heard Shadow sigh.

"Well… I'll see you back here. Omega's on his way."  
"What? What about Gemerl?"  
"Under maintenance. Miley said he's overdue."  
"Ah well…"  
"What's wrong with Omega?"  
"I don't think he likes me…"  
"… He's a machine, Flame…"  
"Gemerl's cool with me. Omega… always looks like he wants to strangle me…"  
"… He's a machine, Flame…"  
"… Alright, whatever. See ya in abit."  
Flame walked out the door.


	4. 3) It Begins

3 – It Begins

[The Son of Flynn – Daft Punk – Tron Legacy soundtrack  
/watch?v=vlEN8svyHj8 ]

_I… I keep having these dreams… if you could call them dreams… More like nightmares…_

_We've decided to take a break for a few days before taking on the Guardians, but these dreams… they've been plaguing me these past few days. As bizarre as they appear to me, they always seem so real, so vivid… I almost feel like they're reaching out for me...But I can't say for certain… All I can do is drift in the dark…_

_I see the Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald, distorting reality around them. And I could almost hear them… calling me…_

_I see tombstones in a misty land, most hard to make out, but with a flash of lightning, I see that one of them definitely has my name engraved._

_I see Metallix with his chest torn apart, and within him is flesh, bone, blood, and a beating heart, fragile and protected by a cage of sharp bones, yet the rest of him is engulfed in a powerful black and red aura of hate, strong enough to keep most away, and probably me._

_I see Sorrow tearing through legions of black-tainted spirits, with bits of white here and there, though all of them have bright red hearts. And I can hear him laughing…_

_And I see her… calmly smiling and lending out her hand, but before I can reach out, she is swallowed by this… this darkness._

_And I'm just left there. Alone. The only thing by me is the thought of my failure. What would she say if she had seen this ruined world? This world that's my fault…_

_The last thing I see is a small flame in the distance, burning bright before engulfing my vision in white. The last glimmer of hope… I reach out… then everything goes numb…_

* * *

[A ticking clock  
/watch?v=fNJxGQKLECE ]

Shadow snapped awake and quickly sat up, his heart pounding. He shut his eyes tight and stroked a hand through his spikes, exhaling.  
"Yo!"  
Flame's upside-down head appeared left of Shadow's vision. His golden-yellow eyes glowed in the dark.  
"You ok, bro?"  
"Fine, get back to sleep. And stop calling me that."  
"Just checking. And sorry, but no."  
Flame's head disappeared as quickly as it appeared. The bunk above Shadow bounced abit. He shook his head before looking at the glow-in-the-dark clock. It was four in the morning. Shadow let his head drop back and tried to go back to sleep. Part of him didn't want to deal with the dreams again. The other part never wanted to wake up to this hell again.

[Cyber Track (map) – Sonic Advance 3 soundtrack  
/watch?v=Ru5yl4lhzOs ]

Flame walked into the lab the next morning eating cereal. It's always a wonder how he gets the food in his "mouth". He stopped to look at two legs sticking out from under a large, floating black transport-vehicle of some type. It resembled a high-tech van. As advanced as the lab and everything in it appeared, there wasn't much in the lab to begin with. Flame didn't budge for a good minute or so before he spoke up.

"Whatcha doin'?" He yelled through a full mouth.  
The body jerked with a loud clanking sound. A female fox slid out from underneath, rubbing her head.  
"Well, now I'm going to look for an ice pack…" She mumbled as she got to her feet and wiped the dust off her legs.  
For the most part, she looked just like Tails. She was taller, her fur was lighter, her eyes were more almond-shaped, and instead of having two tails, she had one tail and wore a ponytail that looked like it could double as a tail. She had shoes like Tails, but black in place of red and with small lime-green sections. The cuffs of her gloves were the same color of green. She wore jeans, a short white t-shirt with blue sleeves, and some orange goggles around her neck. Her snout was also much shorter.  
"… You ok?" Flame finally asked after a long silence.  
He was still munching.  
"I think so. Hopefully, it's nothing big. I'm not super-soldiers like you guys. This is all I got."  
She pointed to her head. She sounded about fourteen.  
"But if I'm wrong, you're going to owe me big time."  
She tried to look mad, but was clearly holding back her laughter.  
"Common, Miley, no one can put a price on your noggin!" Flame joked.  
"Say, where's Gemerl?"  
Miley jerked her thumb towards the black and yellow gizoid before walking off. Flame wasted no time running to the robot.  
"How ya doin', buddy?"  
"All systems online, running, and fully functional." A computerized voice replied.  
"So... good?"  
"Affirmative."  
"Awesome! How 'bout some mano-a-mano combat training to get those rusted up joints of yours moving again?"  
"Challenge accepted."  
"Common, let's head to the VR room!"  
The two walked off.  
"I'll let you pick the place this time."  
"Simulate: Death Egg zone."  
"Cool. I love space!"

[Extras Menu – Sonic Mega Collection soundtrack  
/watch?v=iN8urBC4LxI&feature=related ]

Miley dug through the fridge in the kitchen, freezing and twitching her ears at the sound of Shadow passing behind her. Shadow took the nearest seat, not looking away as he shuffled through the holographic sheets Flame had brought.  
"Did you sleep well?" Miley asked as she kept searching.  
"Sleep? Yes. Well? Never."  
She took a seat next to him, holding an ice pack to her head. Shadow looked at her and cocked a brow.  
"Flame?"  
She smiled nervously.  
"So you've been having bad dreams?"  
"Didn't say it was that." He looked back at the holograms.  
"Didn't say it wasn't."  
She put the ice pack down.  
"I've been having nightmares, too."  
She brushed her hair out of her face. She didn't have to say anymore. Shadow was all too familiar with the tale, but she went on anyways. She had to let it all out, and as she did, Shadow just sat there. Motionless. Staring off into nothing. He could see it all. He relived her experiences with her and was reminded of the pain, the pain shared by God-knows how many others, the pain he had seen everywhere. He wanted to say something, but he had no words to console her, and it made him burn with anger.  
"… _Excuse me…_" he growled through clenched teeth. He slammed the holographs on the table as he stood up. He stormed off before she could say anything.

[Cyber Track (map) – Sonic Advance 3 soundtrack  
/watch?v=Ru5yl4lhzOs ]

Flame and Gemerl spared in a large chamber somewhere in the Death Egg. In the middle of their match, everything around them began to flicker and fade away until they found themselves in a large white room that appeared to be made of cubes. In-between the cubes was neon blue light.  
"Hey! What gives?"  
Shadow walked in.  
"I need you to grab more intel."  
"Already? I don't think Cognito would have any more ready so soon."  
"_Just check_. We need to know as much about these Guardians as possible if we're going to get the Chaos Emeralds back."  
"Alright. But I'm takin' Gemerl with me."  
"Fine, just be quick."  
"Will do."

* * *

[Mephiles' Whisper (Extended) – Sonic 2006 soundtrack  
/watch?v=WicJrGIPQpc ]

"Hey everybody! Guess who's- …"  
The red hedgehog stopped at the sight before him. The bar he was in just a few days earlier was completely destroyed… and the splattered blood was still fresh.  
"_Oh God_…"  
He shivered as he felt his fur stood up. The chill of death was in the air. In a panic, he mashed his finger all over one of the rings on his wrist.  
"Shadow! Come in! You're not gonna believe this, but everyone's-!"  
"_Dead?_" an all too familiar voice answered from behind.  
Blood red eyes snapped open just behind Flame's head.  
"No. Not quite. There's still one left…"

Back at the lab, Shadow scrambled to answer the call through his own ring.  
"The hell is going on over there? Flame, come in!"  
After some time of static feedback, the voice replied.  
"It's been a while, hasn't it brother?"  
"What are you doing?!"  
"What I do best, what else? Metallix has finally caught the bug in his system that has been leaking information. Not only did he have me hunt the pitiful creature, but he instructed me to clean out the Outer Ring quite a bit… just for good measure. And oh, how overdue this wretched place was for purging…"  
"_I'll kill you_."  
"Ha ha… _You'll try_."  
The sound of static returned. Shadow rushed to a balcony. Miley stopped him almost immediately. She rushed to equip something on Shadow's ring, explaining that it was a new experiment that she had just finished that could instantly warp its user back to the base in an emergency. She had done the same with Flame's ring before he left and she warned that it could only be used once before it had to be recharged at the base. Shadow nodded before he jumped off the balcony and began air-skating on the sea, heading towards the city as fast as he could.

[Tunnel Disaster – Tekken 6 soundtrack  
/watch?v=4jEESLWC4OE ]

Flame's body slammed into a wall in an alleyway.  
"That… all ya got, Dark?"  
Sorrow grabbed him by the ankle.  
"I…"  
He ripped Flame from the wall and smashed him into the floor.  
"… haven't…"  
He smashed him into another part of the floor.  
"… even…"  
He smashed him into another wall.  
"… _begun_!"  
He threw Flame into the air. As Flame began to fall again, Sorrow's hands caught ablaze, the fire burning purple and hellishly hot. A battle-worn Gemerl tackled the demon and pinned him to the ground.  
"Still functioning, gizoid? Know your place!"  
Sorrow's burning hand effortlessly tore straight through Gemerl's head as Flame's body crashed into the floor. Sorrow got up and threw out his arm, Gemerl's body flying right off and nearly shattering against the wall. Flame struggled to his feet, his shaking fists up and ready. He threw one punch, but Sorrow simply caught it and began to squeeze. Flame yelped in response to the cracking sound in his hand. Sorrow kept going, bringing Flame to his knees.  
"_Beg for mercy…_"  
"Mercy! Mercy!"  
Sorrow grabbed him by the throat and brought him close.  
"I don't deal kindly to your 'humor'."  
Flame responded by spitting in Sorrow's face.  
"How's that for ya?" he choked.  
Sorrow wiped his face in disgust before driving his claws into Flame's gut. Flame's expression went blank.  
"_Put him down!_" Shadow barked from far behind Sorrow.  
"… _Gladly_…" Sorrow growled before tossing Flame's near-lifeless body by Gemerl.  
The two stared each other down for a beat. Then in an instant, they rushed at each other, seemingly teleporting. They countered each other's barrage of attacks almost blow-for-blow. Sorrow's hands were covered in purple flames, while Shadow's were covered in fiery yellow auras. Flame slowly came back to life and struggled to contact Miley. Sorrow was alarmed to the sound of Flame and Gemerl teleporting away, just the distraction Shadow needed. Shadow hit Sorrow across the face, sending him spinning through the air and crashing into a dumpster. As soon as he recovered, he found Shadow gone. Sorrow roared.

"… _Next time, brother… Next time…_"

* * *

[Nocturne – Daft Punk – Tron Legacy soundtrack  
/watch?v=bv66O1aGrjI ]

Shadow arrived back at the base with transport. He wasted no time asking about Flame, to which Miley replied by pointing to the Recovery Pods. Flame slept in the liquid filled pod, some of his blood swirling in the healing waters.  
"How is he?"  
Miley walked in behind.  
"He's a copy of you, albeit and imperfect one. He should be fine, but since his healing factor doesn't compare-"  
"It'll be a few days before he's fighting again."  
"Yea… I know I shouldn't be worried, but- …"  
Shadow looked at her and placed his hand on her shoulder.  
"Don't. He'll be fine. He's too stubborn to die."  
She tried to smile.

Shadow walked out to the balcony and looked out to the city. As if Metallix's tower weren't obvious enough, at night it was the brightest thing in the city. A beacon of light in the eternal night.

Metallix sat before a glass wall, looking out at the pitch black, searching the endless sea. The Resistance was somewhere out there, ever eluding him. The darkness hung over him and knew no light.

Sorrow crouched on a gargoyle high up on one of the taller buildings in the city. He looked out at the many lights in the city. So many people…

"The people deserve a better world than this. I owe it to them."  
Shadow clenched his fist.

"I will not tolerate this obnoxious rodent and his incessant meddling!"  
Metallix slammed his hand on the arm of his seat.

"They do not deserve this world… These people will burn, and I will see to it! All in due time…"  
Sorrow squeezed the head of the gargoyle until it cracked.

"I need to push on. I need to _fight_."  
"I cannot allow this."  
"I _won't_ allow it!"

The three echoed each others' words: "I will end this once and for all! The end begins now!"


	5. 4) White, pt1

4 – White (Part I)

[Solar Sailor – Daft Punk – Tron Legacy soundtrack  
/watch?v=yRvVyMuWbpM ]

_Come, Shadow… You've done all you can…  
__No, not enough…  
__Rest, Shadow, you need rest…  
__I need to fight…__  
__You are tired, Shadow. Come. Come into the light…  
__I… can't…  
__You don't owe them anything…  
__I… owe them… everything…!  
__It's not your fault…  
__It's all my fault…!  
__Rest, Shadow… Rest…  
__Not… YET!_

* * *

Shadow jerked awake. Flame peered from his bunk.  
"You ok?"  
"No… I can't rest…" he gasped through heavy breaths.

Shadow sat their all night, his eyes fixed on the giant, green, holographic screen, its light glowing on his face. The intel sheets had been jammed into the computer, the information pouring onto the screen, constantly scrolling down, reflecting off his eyes. He stopped at the word "Dream".

[Morning Dew – Dragonball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 2 soundtrack  
/watch?v=HyoZspjzaT8 ]

Flame rolled into the room the next morning in a wheelchair. He rushed to the kitchen area, which shared space with the computer room. The two rooms were divided only by the distance between the computer seat and the kitchen table. He dug through the fridge then paused, his ear twitching. He spun around with a gallon of milk in his hands and a doughnut hanging from his muzzle to notice Shadow, still attached to the computer.  
"Mmm-mmm-mmm-MMM-MMM?"  
"Speak up."  
"Uh fed…"  
Flame choked the doughnut down.  
"ACK! … I _said_, you've been there all night?"  
"Couldn't sleep. What of it?"  
Shadow kept his eyes on the keyboard, typing away.  
"… Why are you still in that wheelchair?"  
"What? It's cool! And fun!"  
"You took the stab to the gut, not the knees."  
"_Still keeping it_…" he mumbled.  
"So wha'ja find?"  
"Yea, Shadow. What _did_ you find?"  
Nobody had noticed that Miley had entered, leaning against a corner with her arms crossed, wearing a headset.  
"I _was_ going to do some research on the Guardians, but I got caught up working on Gemerl… _again_…"  
"Perhaps I'm just being paranoid, but I couldn't sleep, and I believe _this_ person's to blame."  
Shadow tapped "Enter" and spun around. On the screen displayed "Mirage the Dream-Weaver".  
"I've been having strange dreams, but this last one was different. I can't put my finger on it, but I believe she's behind this. I have to ask, have you two been having strange dreams?"  
"Yea, I almost didn't wanna wake up. I mean, like, _ever_."  
"Same here."  
"Metallix seemingly found her out of nowhere. Apparently, she's always been able to manipulate dreams, but after putting the clear Chaos Emerald in her hands and dubbing her a Guardian, her powers have been amplified."  
"I had a dream about a flying purple jester and a giant-eared cat with a blue Pac-Man cap."  
"… Thank you for your input, Flame… As I was saying, she doesn't seem to have any weaknesses. None of these Guardians do, thanks to Sorrow… Since Mirage is attacking us mentally and not physically, it's going to be difficult to track her down, but it shouldn't be impossible. Miley-"  
"Don't tell me, you want me to make some kind of 'dream machine', right?"  
"Right. Metallix is trying to take us out before we can even fight, trying to put us into eternal sleep. He made the mistake of using a _Guardian_ to do so, assuming that attacking us from a distance would make it impossible to find her… and the Emerald."  
"I have a work-in-progress brain-probe. Maybe I can modify that. With your chaos energy, we should be able to pull it off."  
"Wait, why do ya have a brain-probe?"  
"The complexities of the mind never cease to amaze me… To journey into someone's mind would be like visiting a whole new world, and I don't mean like just another planet."  
"Until Miley finishes her device – and us, our mission – none of us can fall asleep."  
"Whaaat? This bod' _needs_ sleep. Have you seen these scars?!" Flame tried to expose the scars on his stomach to no avail.  
"… Well, it's… somewhere under all this fur…"  
Shadow shook his head.  
"… Anyways, we must refrain from sleep. If one falls asleep, it's the other's job to wake them up, understood?"  
"Understood," Miley saluted.  
"Aww, man…" Flame slumped in his wheelchair.

Later that night, Shadow and a sleepy-eyed Flame sat waiting behind a yawning Miley, who was putting the finishing touches on her new device, something that looked like three hospital beds with a strange helmet just above the head of each bed.  
"Alright, done," she muttered.  
"Wow, that was- Zzzz…"  
Shadow smacked the back of Flame's head, bringing him back to life.  
"-fast! Wha' happened?"  
"… Anyways, to put it simply, this little contraption should force your dreams to become lucid dreams. Since this Guardian is using a Chaos Emerald to reach into our minds, I added a little 'Chaos Battery' to my 'Dream Gate'. Shadow, I take it that you can't use your chaos energy while asleep, right?"  
"Right."  
"Alright, if you charge this machine with your chaos energy, that energy will be stored in the battery, then redirected into you, cycling through you while you sleep. I'm not sure exactly how chaos energy works, especially though dreams, but long story short, I'm assuming that if you're charged with chaos energy while you sleep, you should be able to 'tether' onto the Chaos Emerald's energy when she uses it against you. You take it from there."  
"The Chaos Force is not something easily explained, but I think I know what you're trying to say, and I believe your theory may be right."  
"Then whatta we waiting for? Let's get goi-"  
"I'm going alone, Flame."  
"What? Why?"  
"You and Miley need to keep each other awake."  
Flame angrily muttered gibberish under his breath.  
"Alright, Miley. Send me in…"

* * *

[Nocturne – Daft Punk – Tron Legacy soundtrack  
/watch?v=bv66O1aGrjI ]

Somewhere, in a void of white, a siren calls unto the soul of Shadow. A cat-like little thing, light of skin and dark of fur. Her soft brown eyes match her fur. Her short hair hangs in her face. It flares out one way in the front and the other in the back. She wears a long white dress, befitting of a siren like herself. The straps of the dress form large, ring-like shapes. Rapped around her bare arms are what appear to be gold serpents, starting at her shoulders and ending just above the backs of her hands. She walks through the abyss with mist surrounding her steps, like a vision in a desert. In this barren wasteland called reality, she is the elusive salvation. She sings of the most reassuring dream, promising freedom from the burdens of life… freedom from life itself.

In the endless word of white, Mirage peers into the top of the similarly-white Chaos Emerald. Within, she sees a wandering Shadow. She tilts her head and can't help but softly smile.

Shadow stood at the center of the universe, standing on stone steps that seemed to form a path. Around him shone the beauty of space. The stars were abundant and filled the sky, galaxies scattered here and there. The endless world was colored without pattern, colored with captivating purples, blues, and occasional greens. He almost wanted to stand there forever, but a sense of duty pushed him on.

With every step, Shadow could feel the cold of the ground spread through his bare body. Bare… He looked at his hands, now lacking their gloves and rings. In this world, he didn't have to fear going without his Inhibitor Rings, but his hands… The stripes on his arms ended on the backs of his hands, both stripes ending in mirror images of the Mark of the Black Arms, a permanent mark. A permanent reminder… or perhaps not, as it seemed to be fading away. With every step, the red of his fur seemed to disappear into the black. Shadow picked up his pace, curiosity getting the better of him. Soon, the red of his fur was completely gone, but the changes did not end there. With no blood of red to wash away, now the darkness of black began to leave him. His fur was becoming grey. Looking ahead, he saw that the stone path stopped at a water fountain. He rushed to the water to see his reflection, confirming what he could not decide was worry or joy. His now white fur contrasted with the eternal night called space, making him stand out in the darkness. Leaning closer, he could see that his eyes were now a crystal blue, as well. While he debated just how good his new look was, he was simply glad that he was no longer stained by his past. The further he separated himself from the Black Arms, Black Doom, and Sorrow, the better. He was free, and the beautiful scenery was so enticing, he almost wanted to lie down on the cold floor. And sleep. And dream…

Then he caught himself.

[Silence]

"Wait… This-… I can't."  
He opened his eyes.  
"This is her doing. This is exactly what she wants…"  
"Don't deny that it's what you want, as well…"

[King's Uneasiness – Dragonball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 2 soundtrack  
/watch?v=uHr888XK3Gc ]

Shadow quickly sat up, looking to his side. There she was, laying down on the edge of the fountain, her arms and legs dangling off. Her hair hung in front of her eyes, but that did not stop her eyes from connecting with Shadow's. And there was that soft smile.  
"Coming out of the dark, now?"  
"No point in hiding, now that you know. How _did_ you find out, anyways?"  
"A dream stands out among nightmares."  
"Perhaps I was a bit blunt."  
"The hell do you want?"  
"The same thing you want, Shadow."  
Her smile spread.  
"Happiness."  
"Thanks, but I'll earn mine."  
He stood up, dusting himself.  
"Don't you know it's rude to turn away a gift?"  
"Your 'gift' will be the end of me."  
"Why do you reject the peace I bring you?"  
"Peace? Look at the world around you and tell me there's peace."  
"All I see is a beautiful dream."  
"_I meant the real world_," Shadow growled.  
"This could be real. It could _your_ reality."  
"And what about everyone else who is suffering?"  
"They can have it, too. I can give them anything."  
Before he could blink, she was in front of him, nose to nose.  
"I can give _you_ anything."  
"I don't want it," he squinted.  
"Does it mean nothing to you?" she pouted.

She took a step back, and as she spoke, everything she said took form behind her.  
"Your world…"  
Earth could be seen in the distance. Once red, now blue again.  
"… your friends…"  
All that Metallix had murdered appeared behind her, perfectly safe, perfectly happy.  
"… all that you love…"  
Gerald Robotnik began to appear, as did…  
Shadow's eyes snapped wide open. Before she could even process what had happened, Mirage found herself in the air, lifted up by the neck of her dress. Her calmness was finally gone, overdue panic taking over. Her illusions began to fade away.  
"Wha-"  
"Bad choice of words."  
"Why?"  
"Because you already used her against me, last we 'met'. And that's just the problem."  
Shadow brought her in close.  
"_You used her against me…_" he breathed through clenched teeth.  
He threw his arm, not caring for the girl that had fallen.

[Extras Menu – Sonic Mega Collection soundtrack  
/watch?v=iN8urBC4LxI ]

"I offer happiness to all! Does that mean nothing to you…?" she whispered.  
"Not."  
Shadow picked up his hand.  
"If it's."  
He snapped his fingers. The universe around them was quickly washed with white, and Shadow, with his old colors.  
"… _A lie_."  
"… This is the Dream Realm, the universe of dreams, _and I am its core_. This is _my_ world,_ my universe_… So how can you so much as have free will, let alone control? You should be under _my_ control!"  
She was right. The only way he managed to escape her the first time was by waking up, and that was unintentional. Shadow smirked and simply replied, "Lucid dreaming."  
"Besides, your world or not, if you're going to invade _my_ dreams,"  
Shadow walked up to her, stabbing her heart with his piercing red eyes.  
"You'd best be ready to face _me_."  
"I've peered into your mind, Shadow the Hedgehog. Years' worth of nightmares, in both the world of dreams and the world of reality… I finally give you a _real dream_, give you _rest_, but you treat it as another nightmare…"  
"I'll have plenty of time to rest when I'm done here."  
"Done doing _what_, exactly?"  
Shadow crouched down, placing his hand on her face. She jumped, trying to break away, but he held on. As he did, the two became encased in a thin, transparent layer of ashy green energy. As soon as he loosened his grip, the energy blew away, and she broke free, squirming back.  
"… Saving the world from twisted minds like yours and Metallix's..."  
"What did you do?"  
"How can I put this? … See, when you used your powers to reach into my mind, you created a 'bridge' of sorts. Because you used a Chaos Emerald to do so, I was able to use this 'bridge' against you, sensing the chaos energy you used and following it back to its source. Normally, I wouldn't be able to pull this off in my sleep, as this calls for use of my own chaos energy, but I have friends to help me, you see."  
_Amazing what something as simple as a battery can accomplish_, Shadow mused.  
"What do you have? A tyrant breathing down your neck. In short, I now have an idea of just where you and the Emerald are right now."  
"No… no, no, no, no, no…"  
She stumbled to her feet, backing away from Shadow.  
"If you're afraid I'll kill you, know that if you just hand over the Emerald quietly and stop this madness, I'll leave you alone. Act up again, and I _will_ find you."  
"I'm not afraid of you!"  
"Is that so?"  
"Yes! I'm afraid of _him!_ Afraid of what _he'd_ do to me, or what that sick pet of his, Sorrow, would do! I'd _rather_ you kill me! Or better yet,"  
Her eyes went blank and her hair began to float as she was raised into the air.  
"I should just kill you! That will please him! I was going to give you your own personal Heaven, but now I'll just send you to Hell!"  
Her hands and eyes caught ablaze, burning with small white auras.  
"You want to sulk in your nightmares? Then you can drown in them! Farewell, Shadow the Hedgehog!"

* * *

Flame paused his PSP, his twitching, heavy eyes struggling to stay open.  
"… Something ain't right…" he mumbled.  
"Miley…!" he whined.  
"If you're asking for more cheats, I'm not looking them up again…"  
She didn't bother to lift her head, which was buried in her arms.  
"Send me in, Miley…!"  
"I already said no…"  
"Common, he's been in there too long…!"  
"But he said no…"  
"I'll get Omega to keep you up, just send me in…!"  
There was a long silence. She was losing her grip, falling into sleep. Flame sluggishly rolled himself by her desk and slowly shook her.  
"Come oooon…!"  
"Fine…!" she finally sighed.

* * *

[Credits – Tekken Tag Tournament soundtrack  
/watch?v=W4E8hnfKg3g ]

Flame arrived in time to witness the havoc. The white land was now a dull yellow and was riddled with cracks of outer space. Two intense auras flew high and fast in the air, constantly clashing. It was like two blurs of red and white swirling on an old, tattered canvas. The two seemed evenly matched. Despite Mirage having power over the entire land, Shadow's sheer will alone rivaled her power.  
Flame simply stared, confused.  
"… Since when did Shadow become Vegeta? … Oh, wait, dream world. Right…"

With each blow, Mirage's aura became weaker, while Shadow's intensified. The two suddenly stopped, both gasping for air, though Mirage appeared ready to faint. Shadow was still, lending out his hand, offering a silent second chance. She answered Shadow's offer by charging at him. Shadow sighed, returning the attack and charging back. The unseen explosion of the final clashed knocked Flame off his feet.

Shadow walked up to Mirage, who was on the verge of collapsing. Her body shaking, she summoned what remained of her strength and punched Shadow's chest. A shockwave followed the attack. Shadow was unfazed. She threw another, and another, and another, each blow becoming weaker, sloppier, less focused. The shockwaves followed, having once added to the cracks in the void, but now just causing minor ripples in the air. Her fist shaking, she threw one last punch. For a moment, the two just stood there, Mirage's body trembling. After some silence, Shadow spoke up.  
"… I thought you were going to down me in my nightmares."  
Mirage looked down, shut her eyes tight as she could, and shook her head slowly. Her legs finally gave in as she fell to her knees, but she did not relent. Streams flooding her face, she kept pounding on Shadow's chest, slowly, weakly, child-like. She raised her hand one last time, reality distorting around it. With all that she had, she swung it down. Another explosion. The cracks became greater. Shadow had caught the last strike effortlessly and had simply tossed it back. Mirage's arm fell down, bringing that side of her body down with it. Drained, she flung her numb-feeling arms at him, trying to cling to him. Her final efforts were in vain, as she slowly drooped down to the floor. Shadow took a step back, allowing her to crash on the side of her face. The tears spread.  
"What happened to that calm demeanor of yours? Funny. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're not even the same person I met earlier."  
She couldn't speak. She could only gasp for air. She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out.

"Die-… I-… I don't-… don't want to-…" she finally managed to cough out.  
"Why are you doing this? Why are you working for _him_?"  
She couldn't answer. She could only repeat the same words over and over. Flame walked up behind Shadow, his brows coming together. While Shadow looked down on what he thought was a witch who was about to pay the consequences of her actions, Flame felt sorry for what he saw to be, perhaps, but an innocent girl forced into war. The girl didn't budge. There was no point in so much as moving, let alone trying. Nothing mattered anymore. She was already dead. With nothing to live for, the girl eventually faded into nothing. She had returned to reality, and soon, so did the brothers.

[In the Calm – Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage soundtrack  
/watch?v=nNBye0akt-s ]

Later that night, the three sat around the kitchen table. Miley was fast asleep, her head in her arms again.  
"… Should we wake her up?"  
"No, leave her. I don't think Mirage will be a problem anymore."  
"Some 'Guardian'. She seemed so… fragile."  
Shadow stared at Flame.  
"… What?! Not sayin' she was weak or anything, like she was an easy fight. I wasn't there for the whole thing, so I can't say."  
"What were you doing, anyways? I saw you come in at the last minute."  
"I was busy gettin' knocked around by your guys' 'little fight'. Anyway, she just… it just seemed like she didn't want to be involved in all this, like she was forced into it."  
"She serves Metallix."  
"Well, maybe she didn't have a choice, you know? Maybe he had her at gun-point or sumthin'."  
"If that's the case, she had a choice between obeying him and dying, and she chose the former. There's always a choice. I would have chosen death, even by Sorrow."  
"Yea, you n' me both, cus' we can take it, but what about everyone else? Have you _met_ Dark? People are afraid just hearin' his name! The guy has fun turnin' people into sushi, for cryin' out loud! You better believe he's gonna take his time with that sick crap."  
"Maybe… And I should kick you in the head for going against orders."  
"Heh. What can you do?"

"… Anyways, I got Mirage's location. We find her, we find the clear Emerald."  
"Ain't it white?"  
"No."  
"Well, where are they?"  
"The Inner Ring of the city..."


End file.
